It’s the holiday that spreads a little love and a little warmth into each cold February; Valentine's Day. While many may view this holiday as commercial or cheesy, here at Bisou we celebrate Valentine’s Day by reminding our loved ones how much they really mean to us!

For some couples, there is no better day than Valentine’s Day to commit to one another in love and marriage. Here are some of our favorite Valentines inspired wedding ideas!

Not only are Bisou couples the sweetest and most amazing people to work with, they're also incredible dancers! We love seeing couples share sweet moments as well as let loose on the dance floor. It's your special day, so you should feel free to have the time of your life! Here are some Bisou couples showing their very best moves on the dance floor :)

We're kicking off 2018 with Dara and Doug as our January Couple of the Month! Dara and Doug's special day was filled with pure magic!! From the exhilarating first sword fight to the breathtaking first dance (complete with stunning lifts), it was clear that the love Dara and Doug share is joyful and everlasting. Friends and family witnessed a touching ceremony and then proceeded to celebrate with the couple at Saratoga National Golf Club. It was a day full of love and laughter which we were honored to be a part of it!

Dara and Doug had this to say about their Bisou experience:

Working with Sarah Fichtman and the Bisou Weddings team was a dream from our first phone call. We chatted for an hour, and we knew immediately that, through working together, we would create a wedding that reflected our traditions, values, and identity as a couple. We also understood very quickly that there was no problem or situation that would frighten Sarah: our initial idea of serving our wedding dinner family style with 180 guests changing seats - as would have been printed on their place cards-in between each course. Sarah didn’t even blink, but gave us an enthusiastic and genuine, “Let’s try it!” The seat-rotation idea was eventually scrapped, but the spirit of creativity and ingenuity continued to permeate all elements of our wedding experience. Sarah’s authentic excitement, creativity, and joy only grew throughout our time working together, and our wedding could not have been as magical as it was without her spectacular team. Now, we have cherished memories of a joyous process and an enchanted wedding weekend, with the added benefit of a wonderful friend for life. 

Make a statement before your guests even get to the party with a unique, personalized seating chart or place cards! Using a glass of champagne or your selected wedding favors to help guests find their seat is a fun way to kick off the night. Here are a few thoughtful, creative and easy to decipher seating ideas that your guests will certainly appreciate!

As we all look to stay warm during this seriously cold winter, here are some cozy winter wedding ideas to help take the edge off. While nothing warms the heart like witnessing two people celebrate their love, a nice warm cup of cocoa and an extra soft blanket to snuggle up in certainly helps. A snowy wedding can be absolutely magical, and you can help your guests stay warm with these thoughtful, festive touches.

Here at Bisou, we love what we do and enjoy seeing all the hard work that goes into the perfect wedding day pay off. We do our best to make sure that our clients are in the spotlight on their special day, but we also love seeing sneaky snapshots of ourselves in action. As the year comes to an end, we take a look back at all of the fun Bisou behind the scenes moments we love and cherish!

So your best friend has asked you to stand with them on their wedding day. What an honor!!! There is a long list of responsibilities, as well as perks, that come with the title of maid of honor or best man. The big one is the speech. For so many of us, after that initial excitement wears off, the panic and fear of public speaking sets in. But there's no need to panic! Here is the best guide to writing a speech with the perfect blend of humor and sentiment that the happy couple will remember forever (in a good way).

This August we're highlighting Alexis and Chris as our Bisou couple of the month! This wedding was full of fun personal touches from fun fact napkins to an adorable cake topper. Alexis and Chris had a beautiful ceremony held at St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church with their family and friends in attendance. After a breathtaking photo shoot with the wedding party at Yaddo Gardens, everyone headed to Saratoga Polo to celebrate the newly weds! All in all it was an incredibly fun summer wedding and we are thrilled to feature Alexis and Chris!

Alexis and Chris had this to say about their Bisou experience:

Guests told us that I was one of the happiest brides they have ever seen and that is definitely because of Sarah and her team at Bisou. Thanks to Sarah’s amazing organizational skills our day ran extremely smoothly and even ahead of schedule; even our priest said he never had a rehearsal run as smooth as ours. It is because of her wonderful personality and organizational skills that vendors love working with her and this definitely helped us have amazing vendors and an amazing day. So many guests commented on how wonderful Sarah and her team were and that she definitely changed their perceptions on wedding planners. We could not imagine our wedding without Sarah and Bisou!

Today's taste of color is the vibrant, summery combination of yellow and green. Greenery has been very popular in 2017, and as we look to 2018 it doesn't seem to be a trend that will fade away anytime soon. Add any shade of yellow and you have a beautiful combination sure to leave smiles on everyone's faces. This color palette is perfect for the couple that is fun, bubbly and looking for some sunshine on their wedding day. Plus, look how cute those yellow macaroons are!!

We had so much fun at Jenny and Nick's wedding this past weekend! Every detail was perfect and beautiful, and it was impossible not to smile in the presence of this wonderful couple. One detail that made the rest of the day so relaxed, was their decision to do a first look. First looks have been growing in popularity and for years, and for a good reason. Opting for a first look rather than hiding the bride until she walks down the aisle allows for couples to take a great deal of pictures before the ceremony begins. Couples are able to capture all of the shots together (and if time allows, with their families and wedding parties) while not taking time away from their precious time with their guests during cocktail hour. A first look also allows for the couple to share and savor that special moment with some privacy. Although there is nothing wrong with having the first view of the bride be while she's walking down the aisle, the convenience of a first look makes a lot of sense. Jenny and Nick chose to share this special moment in private, but the pictures look magical! We wish these two a life full of love and laughter!

We are often asked about our name, what it means, and where it comes from. Bisou owner and founder, Sarah, was born and raised in Montreal where she grew up speaking French fluently. She also had the pleasure of living in Paris for a couple 2-3 month periods. The French culture has always been a huge influence in Sarah's life, and when it came time to name her business, an homage to her hometown seemed perfectly appropriate. Bisou is the french word for kiss, and because kisses are the perfect expression of love, we love sharing those precious moments from our weddings. Whether it's a dad giving a sweet smooch as he hands his daughter over, or a couple celebrating their new status as Mr. and Mrs., each and every kiss shared on a wedding day is a treasured moment. To give you a better picture of what we mean, here are some of our favorite Bisou kisses!

Whether you decide to have an open bar, cash bar, soft bar or any other type of bar, a signature cocktail is a great way to add a personal touch! This is a fun way to encourage guests to try something new and get in on the love. Signature cocktails are a popular (and tasty!) way to celebrate your newlywed status and share your drink preferences with your guests. Use your favorite spirits or even choose a drink that fits with your color scheme!

If you're in the process of picking a venue for your wedding, then you NEED to check out the Takk House in Troy, NY. This incredibly charming venue is just as gorgeous in person as it is in pictures. A venue with a distinctly unique charm that is both elegant and eclectic, it is a space that is also adaptable to each couples' style. The Takk House was originally a Knights of Columbus building, bringing historic flare to the space. The building now belongs to Heidi and Frank Sicari who have imbued the "old" with their own artistic taste. They have perfectly married the historic elements with their modern flare to create a building that is stylish and unique. A couple looking to celebrate bits of the past with a glimpse into the beautiful future that awaits will find the Takk House a perfect fit. See some of Heidi and Frank's beautiful images below for just a taste of what this amazing venue has to offer.

The word Takk means Thanks in Icelandic. Why Icelandic? My mom was born and raised in Iceland and I have A LOT of family over there. I took Heidi to Iceland two summers ago and she quickly realized why I love it so much. It was our first vacation together and we look back on it fondly. Using an Icelandic word in our name seemed like such a great way to recognize a place that is important to both of us. So why Thanks? The basis of most celebrations is gratitude. Thank you for coming. Thank you for inviting us. Thank you for everything you’ve done. Thank you for being in our lives. Thank you for caring. A space to celebrate with the people in your life that you are thankful for. It doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the few Icelandic words that’s easy to say! Lastly, why house? A house is welcoming. A house is a home when it is filled with people you are grateful for...and a home is where we are all most comfortable. Your event should be in a place that feels like home. Not the house you grew up in, but your own personal home. Not a building, hall or plaza. A house where everyone is invited in for the celebration. Takk House.

You've said yes to your sweetheart! Yay, you're engaged! Now it's time to make sure you have the people you love by your side to make your wedding experience the best it can be. These are the people who have loved and supported you all along the way and they deserve to know just how much it would mean to you to have them stand with you on your wedding day. You can show your soon-to-be wedding party some extra love with these fun proposal ideas!

With another new month, comes another new Couple of the Month. This July, we look back to the days of last summer at Delilah and Javier's private estate summer wedding. Delilah and Javier opted for an outdoor, forest wedding ceremony followed by a beautiful, colorful, clear-tent reception. The clear tent allowed Delilah and Javier's family and friends to dine and dance under the stars with the added bonus of being protected from the weather! Their party guests were greeted at the reception tent by bohemian, vintage styled sitting areas adorned with couches, chairs, and rugs. Further into the tent, guests could dance the night away on the large, wooden dance floor or enjoy cigars at the "cigar bar!"

Delilah and Javier had this to say about their experience with the Bisou team:

When my husband and I began planning our wedding, we knew we wanted to rent a private estate for a wedding weekend. We quickly realized that we were in over our heads with planning and logistics and reached out to Bisou Weddings & Events to handle day of coordination. From the beginning, she partnered closely with our wedding designer to ensure a seamless transition for her and her staff to manage the day of. The day of flowed very smoothly, thanks in large part to Sarah’s amazing attention to detail. Whether it was helping to get our flower girls together for the ceremony, or making sure vendors had what they needed, Sarah and her team got it done. We were so glad we had Bisou on hand!